The National Academy of Inventors (NAI) has named two NJIT faculty members — Cesar Bandera, master teacher and Leir Endowed Chair for Entrepreneurship, and Sara Zapico, assistant professor of forensic science — to the 2026 class of Senior Members. Bandera’s work sits at the intersection of technology innovation, entrepreneurship education and mobile health. Zapico directs NJIT’s Interdisciplinary Forensics and Biomedical Sciences Lab (ForenBioS), where she applies biochemical, epigenetic and molecular approaches to advance forensic science.

Researchers at the University of Liège have identified a key genetic regulator that enables macrophages to reach full maturity and preserve the health of our organs. The MafB factor, a veritable "molecular switch", activates or deactivates certain genes at the right time and in the right place, leading to the production of macrophages responsible for defending our body and supporting the functioning of our organs. Without MafB, macrophages can become dysfunctional, no longer performing their beneficial roles properly.